Aspergers and Spacing/Zoning Out when driving?

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Do other people with Aspergers Space/Zone Out when driving. I take driving lessons and I'm OK for the first 15-30 minutes. But after that I space out... I'm trying to concentrate so hard that I forget to do things e.g. check mirrors, stop at red lights etc. Is there a way to improve yourself? Is this an Asperger trait? If so, how do you resolve this?

Advice Please. Please Help, Thank You!

I'm not sure. I would just suggest though if it's becoming a problem, suspending driving lessons until you can overcome it. You don't want to hurt anyone.

I'm asking for advice, Is there any medication you can take?

Elbow grease extract on a toast. Being involved in an accident helps, only a matter of time. Try to focus on the dangerous nature of the activity.

Get your sleep

sounds like you're experiencing a bit of sensory overload there. trying to concentrate on everything and as a result ending up concentrating on nothing. Speaking for myself, I have a nasty habit of running red lights because my mind got stuck on something unrelated I was thinking about... then all of a sudden someone is honking their horn at me and I don't know what the hell.

I wonder, do you react okay to caffeine? If you do, maybe have a cup of coffee or tea or soda or whatever your caffeinated beverage of choice is before driving. The stimulant effect should, potentially, make you more alert.

It may also help to put in some extra practice driving in an area where you don't have to worry about other vehicles. Like an empty parking lot, something like that. Give yourself extra time to really get comfortable just operating the vehicle by itself without other distractions. Once you have the basic vehicle operation down to a comfortable, even instinctual level, you should, in theory, be able to focus more on traffic and less on the car itself when driving in future.

Caffeine. A shedload. Have an energy drink or a cup of coffee before you go driving. Especially driving anywhere new if your sense of direction is bad. You can sometimes skip the coffee if you're driving to a place you've driven hundreds of times before, as then the route gets memorized in your brain. Ritalin for me personally didn't help driving, as it cut my verbal thought process down a lot, which made driving worse, as my nonverbal thought process sucked. Your results may vary with prescription stims, but I'd recommend coffee or an energy drink before driving. If you don't want to be a slave to them, don't drive.

I don't so much as space out, as get overwhelmed. Caffeine helps me get less overwhelmed when driving. I think many people space out while driving, though, NTs and Aspies alike. For me, I have to sort of hyperfocus while driving. My mom for example, driving on the interstate, says she gets tired because of how boring it is. For me, it's like a constant adrenaline rush, I can't really fall asleep while driving just due to how much I have to concentrate to do it.

I do not understand how people can doze off while driving. For me it's a superstim. So much sensory stimulation!! ! Thousands of tiny, minute corrections, listening to the sounds of the vehicle, thinking way far ahead, which routes to take, etc etc etc.

Zoning out? Not so much, more like zoning in. All encompassing.

One of the few things i excel at. I can drive just about anything with wheels or tracks. I can parallel park a B-train, I can shunt trailers with a C-train.

It's all logical. Physics, angles, trajectory.

Locomotion, all different means of locomotion have always been an intense interest of mine. A deep understanding of how a thing works is helpful of course.

Just try to be mindful of what's going on, and always thinking about how you can do better.

It's not terribly important to always be watching your mirrors... I just try to keep an eye on the rear view mirror so I can see if someone is tailgating me and get out of their way if so. When I go to change lanes, I always actually look and don't fully trust my mirrors anyways in case someone is in my blind spot.

And this is why I cannot drive, I walk INTO people, imagine with a car!

I hyper focus when I drive

I agree with this poster. You need to automatise the operation of the car. You need to get to a stage where you don't have to think about the mechanics of the whole thing - when shifting gears, turning the wheel, operating lights, etc. are all automatic. Then you should be ok to concentrate on other stuff.
Can you get your lessons changed to something that suits you better? Maybe somewhere out of traffic to start with, and practice skills first. Or do the 1st 20 mins like you're doing now, and once you begin to zone, go somewhere away from traffic. Or have shorter lessons. Whatever works best, so long as you keep yourself safe.

Spacing out is one of the many reason I CAN'T drive AT ALL. Never had a license.

I space out.
Have poor executive functioning, which is worse when I have to think fast.
I have a poor sense of depth, distance, height, and speed.

So, that all makes it a bit difficult.

I have some difficulties with driving too. I completely know what you mean about getting overwhelmed after doing it for a while. As others have said, once certain things (like changing gears and steering) become second nature, you don't have to think about those any more - unfortunately that just comes with practice so you will need to stick with it. At a certain point of practicing the motions things become easier.

Aside from that, you may find you need to make certain allowances for yourself. For example, in my case, I find parallel parking difficult and it stresses me out, so I drive until I can find a space with plenty of room for me to park, even if it means I have to walk a bit further. I don't drive anywhere I'm unfamiliar with unless I absolutely have to (I am easily lost, and get confused by busy areas and intersections). If I do need to travel a route I don't know I always take a sat nav. I don't drive on motorways. This is because my reaction time is slower than most drivers - passengers I have had have commented on this - and, while most people try to insist to me that motorway driving is easier than on regular roads, in my case it's more difficult and dangerous due to the speed and need to react quickly and take the right route quickly or miss the way completely. Essentially, I just make sure I'm safe; I am fine on familiar roads at reasonable speeds when, because I'm used to driving, I don't have to think about anything except staying in a straight line and looking out for hazards, so barring an emergency I stick to those circumstances.

I suppose you will have to get your license before thinking about those things, but I hope they will be useful when you get there.

When I first started learning how to drive, I was really obsessed with girls and always got a wreck when I started thinking about one or if I had talked to one recently. I backed into my girlfriend's dad's car on the first date because I was so excited about having been on a date that I did not look behind me. I am not so easily distracted now, but I will absolutely make sure that I am not thinking about girls when I'm in a car, and I will not drive if there is an attractive woman in the vehicle.

I space out occasionally, but that is not so bad, because I am able to force myself to do things (at least if they are mechanical in nature) regardless of my mood.

that is exactly why I don't drive. I space out and get lost in my thoughts and I forget how to drive.